In addition, current CEO William Currie has been appointed to the newly created position of executive chairman of the board. Currie will continue as a full-time employee of the company through the new position. Former chairman Peter Secchia has been named chairman emeritus and will remain on the board as a director.

"This well-thought-out plan puts the right people in the right places to ensure the continued success of Universal," said Secchia. "The company's operations and direction will be in capable hands with Mike Glenn, who has been with Universal for more than three decades and at the helm of our operations for six years."

As executive chairman, Currie will remain an employee and will focus on select customer and vendor relationships, investor relations and his board responsibilities. He also will work with Glenn in an advisory capacity on business strategies and acquisitions.

"Mike has decades of experience and history with Universal. For the past six years, he has been driving our success through programs he instituted like our five-year 'Building it Forward' program and our 'Innovation Program,'" Currie said.

Glenn joined Universal in 1974 as a salesman in Pennsylvania. He was appointed vp in 1984, overseeing operations in Colorado, Texas and Kansas. In 1989 he was named senior vp of the company's then-Southwest company. When Universal reorganized into two divisions in 1997, Glenn was named president of the Western division. In 2000, he was named president and chief operating officer.

Currie began his career at Universal in 1971 as Secchia's first hire after Secchia bought controlling interest in the company. Currie advanced from sales manager to eastern regional sales manager to vp and, in 1989, became CEO.

Secchia began his service with the company in 1962 and served as CEO and chairman from 1971 until 1989, when he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Italy. When Secchia completed his tenure as ambassador in 1993, he rejoined the company as chairman.

Universal Forest Products markets, makes and engineers wood and wood-alternative products for retail home centers, structural lumber products for the manufactured housing industry, engineered wood components for the site-built construction market and specialty wood packaging for various industries.

The company also provides framing services for the site-built sector. Sales for 2005 were nearly $2.7 billion.

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